A relative's carer helped themselves to her bank account. This was discovered by the executor who stopped looking back through the bank account when the amount topped £11k in the five months prior to her death and handed the matter to the police. It is going to court and there's little doubt there will be a conviction. It will however be for considerably less than the amount taken because the criminal case is sensibly concentrating on those withdrawals and purchases which can be proved without any doubt. The direct victim was the now deceased relative and if she was still alive she could sue the thief. Can executor or beneficiaries?

Summary: FIL died June 2017. Delay with Estate due to contention between 3 siblings, all of whom are Executors. Contentious Lawyers finally appointed to deal with Estate. MIL has Alzheimer’s & in a care home. She lacks capacity. The firm of Solicitors were engaged on the basis that not only do they handle late FILs Estate BUT were also engaged to act as MIL Financial Deputy as agreed by all 3 Executors. 1 of the Executors has now ‘changed her mind’. This particular Executor has been difficult since my FIL died. Her brother (my husband) had to see a Solicitor to get things moving in the first place regarding his Fathers’ Estate. His sister said she was not going to do anything! It is a large and complex Estate. She initially wanted to do probate, not use a Solicitor & asked her 2 brothers to ‘stand down’. The other brother does not want her to be Financial Deputy & neither does my husband due to her behaviour. They were happy for her to be their mothers’ Welfare Deputy. Surely, the sister cannot be allowed to keep delaying matters although it seems she can, whatever her reasons are. This must have happened to someone out there and it would be interesting to hear what the outcome was.

After a sibling died the others came together to clear the property with the sibling who is executor. This help was given freely and at no time did anyone mention or talk about getting paid or expenses for said help. Now suddenly an invoice has been sent to the executor for work carried out, this is a proper invoice as person is self employed. But is the executor legally obliged to pay this from the estate? We are aware that once the estate is settled if anything is missed the executor is liable personally. So although this is clearly immoral it's the legal side that concerns us.

Hello, I have just joined. I am a joint executor Non beneficiary, in a family will where the one of the two beneficiaries also executors cannot agree to the price to buy out the other. It has become hostile between them, it is going to court to decide what happens to the house and I am now a party to the claim, as second claimant, siding with the reasonable party for the purpose of getting this protracted matter dealt with. The indemnity form I have been sent by the solicitor of one party states in the last of three paragraphs, the following and I wish to know please if this is a reasonable paragraph that should protect me against costs Now this note witnesses that in consideration of the foregoing the First Claimant agrees to indemnify the Second Claimant in full in respect of the Second Claimants share of any costs order made against the Claimants in the said proceedings for as long as the Second Claimant remains that party to same. I would be most grateful for your comments. Regards

trying to sort this out for a neighbour.... a person whom is specifically mentioned in an English will in the regard of: a gift of £30k in respect to a loan they gave the decreased has it appears cleared out all personal items of the deceased as well as many very valuable items that were destined for distribution along with the sale of said property as part of the estate distributed amongst surviving children. my neighbour being one of these. this was discovered when he was escorted to the property by the solicitors/agent to collect 'something' to remember his dad by for the meant time and collect photos etc etc. this person is an executor of the will, but retained a set of keys when they should not have done? and have never been escorted like his son was and his other son that was escorted around at another time too.. the person has returned on numerous occasions since the death until my neighbours visit [we have CCTV evidence!!] and can be seen for want of a different word, rifling the place of anything of worth. to the extent that other than photos, there are NO personal effects of their father left!! even the bedding has gone!! [yes this person and my neighbours deceased dad have lived together many a year] the property was a second home. the solicitors seem non plushed by this....... but surely this cant be legal? your thoughts CAG please

Hi all, I'm a British ex-pat in Malta. A guy (also British) who owned a flat in the block I live in tragically died recently. It was used as a holiday home/rental so he rarely stayed there. We need to contact his family (or other new owners) about maintenance and other issues but have no contact details apart from the now deceased owner. How do we go about finding who is responsible for executing the will in the UK and identifying the new owner of the flat?

My parent died 5 years ago and a sibling acted as Executor. I have never seen the Will (despite requests) and the Probate Office has no record which indicates it did not go to Probate even though there was property and effects involved which have since been distributed. I thought I was also named as an Executor (along with a third sibling) but, of course, since I haven't seen the Will I have no way of knowing for sure. I have contacted the solicitors who, as far as I know, dealt with the Will and they say they were not asked to do the Probate and do not know if any subsequent Wills were made but if I wanted a copy of the Will they do hold I would need a copy of the Death Certificate and the permission of the other Executors, the latter being the problem due to lack of cooperation. This being the case, plus the apparent lack of Probate - meaning the Will is therefore not in the public domain - is there any other way I can obtain a copy? I would like to be certain the assets were disposed of in accordance with the wishes of the deceased as I have reason to believe there may be some discrepancy. I have discovered the deceased made several Wills before death (while in the care of the Executor sibling), two in the same month, and the property has not gone to the person the deceased and their spouse (who died first) always wished it to (which was not me, by the way). How can one be certain it is indeed the very last Will & Testament that's been acted upon by an Executor - or that it's been carried out properly? If Probate has not been granted, can anyone who has a Will of a deceased person obtain Probate - in other words, is it the first person to get there, so to speak? Can someone dispose of property and/or effects without Probate? Are beneficiaries entitled to see the Will?

Apparently I've died! Today I have received a letter from my energy supplier which is addressed to the Executor of the late (ME) We are very sorry to hear about the recent passing of the Late ........................ At Scottish Power we are committed to providing the help and support which is most appropriate to the needs of the customer. Blah, blash, blah Should you wish to speak to Philips & Cohen Associates (UK( Ltd in the meantime about the account(s), please call them on xxxxxxxxxx I have spoken with a female at SP who refused to accept me recording the call and advised she did not agree with the call being used in any legal matters so I asked to speak to a manager. She said managers do not deal with these calls. She could not offer any explanation as to where the letter had come from and I gave her 5 days to investigate before I refer it to my legal advisors. She made no offer of apology which I felt was very insensitive but didn't expect one from such an unprofessional organisation. I will be moving energy suppliers imminently. I then called Philips & Cohen and spoke to a lovely lady who couldn't apologise enough and recognised the distress this has caused me. She has taken details and advised that the correspondence they have received from SP even has an incorrect date of birth. She is referring the case back to SP with strong complaint. SP have called me since to ask me to send them a copy of todays correspondence as they have no record of it on their system! I don't feel I should have the inconvenience of doing this but hope to be guided by someone here, if possible? Now, some of you may be aware that I have recently been widowed and also lost my sister so just to clarify, their matters regarding utility companies are all settled and closed and the date of births have no resemblance to either of my relatives. The account number on todays letter refers to electricity at my address. I cannot convey the distress this has caused me today and thankfully I am due to see my bereavement counsellor tomorrow. How should I proceed with this matter?

I know I have another thread going on since mum died and will reply asap but this is something regarding an incident that happened recently. So here's the thing. Mum lived with a distant relative (This relative was a horrid b*tch to say the least. Let's call her A). I lived there until around a year ago when I couldn't take anymore of this family member and moved. Anyway. With mums will I am executor and sole beneficiary (Everything left to me, personal goods and money unless I passed away before her). When mum died, all of her belongings were left at this distant relatives home. The ashes were delivered there and I went back today to find out what was happening. They (This distant family member and her sister) had made plans to do with my mums possessions without consulting me. They planned to give half to some other distant family members (mum wouldn't have wanted that) and even arranged to collect the rest to give to charity. I wasn't consulted once, had no say and when I explained mum wouldn't have wanted that to A, I was met with some verbal abuse and effectively told to sod off. I explained the case to A's sister as I had their number on my phone, who was pretty nasty and told me i'm not allowed back to A's house unless she accompanies me. Followed by a form of a verbal abuse. So now it looks like the legal stance of things. Am I correct that because I am executor and sole beneficiary, every single thing mum owns is now mine? and anything done regarding mums belongings and ashes would count as theft if it is done without my permission (i.e... Taking with the intent of permanently depriving the owner of their property). It's sad that it could go down that route with A who has never considered my opinions and her sister who has her head up A's wotsits. Thanks

This feels a little awful as my mother is alive and kicking albeit in her 90s but I have never dealt with a will - everything was in joint names when my father died so there was no "estate". There will be little when my mother does "go home" as she delightfully describes it but I would rather sort it out liaising with my brother to ensure there are no debts! (He is abroad) I have just read an article which says you do not need to use the solicitor named as the executor but feel I know so little about this and wonder where I would start. I wonder if someone could help just so I know the first steps and am not anxious when (she says she will live to 103) we get to this point.

]In a case involving the family, a close relative of mine has almost certainly been unexpectedly included in a elderly relative's Will to the tune of many thousands of pounds. A substantial sum. However, the elderly relative passed away earlier this year, and the sole executor, the only offspring has subsequently delayed the process of probate, to the extent he has not yet made an application. This intelligence is borne out by the online probate registry which as yet is not showing any reference to any application, and therefore no information on the Will. The Executor would have been expecting to inherit the whole estate from his sole surviving parent, and would therefore have been extremely upset when he read the Will to discover that he had not in fact inherited everything. Indeed a sizeable chunk, close to a six fire sum, had been allocated elsewhere. I cannot find any definitive information about this scenario. What happens if the Executor simply declines to register the Will? Does that mean eventually he can claim there was no will/the will was not valid - it is his responsibility as I understand it for him to prove it is valid if there are questions marks ( and it is in his interests to indicate there are); does 'intestacy' rules then kick in, in which case he would stand to gain everything as if the Testator's instructions were set aside. Is there a time period during which an Executor is legally obliged to make the application? I cannot find any reference to this. And finally, is it possible to somehow 'contest' the will, perhaps argue it is invalid ( undue influence etc. or something along similar lines) before it is even necessary to apply for probate, get the Will effectively invalidated, and then claim as the Testaors only immediate relative/offspring of the Testator the inheritance under intestacy provisions? Or, could it be explained that the main assets a property, currently on a leased tenancy cannot be sold until the tenancy is terminated, and that is the reason why the Executor is holding back. I detect a pungent odour of rodent in this current scenario, and that the Executor is cooking something up, but what?

I wrote a will for a client of mine who named me as her executor. She was estranged from both her daughter and son and as she lived in a care home had no one to act for her. In her will there is a clause that quite clearly gives me as her executor the power to charge for any work done in the event of her death - the probate. My client passed away and I did everything that not only an executor would do but also much more besides such as attending the funeral, clearing her room and even the internment of her ashes. Her son has now issued a claim against me for the sum of the fees that I charged plus interest. He effectively believes that I should have done it all for nothing! Any advice would be appreciated. The claim is for over £4,000.

Hi I'll try to do this briefly. Nov wife's aunt died, December MIL died, my wife is administrator of both estates There was about £7,000 of life insurance paid out, which went into a new bank account in my wife's name. In the meantime I left my job 31st Dec due to poor health I have now been put into the support group for 3 years for income based ESA (without an assessment BTW) We declared the money in the bank account to the district council and sent copies of the death certificates to prove that's what the money was for. There is way more debt than cash so been trying to talk to all creditors to reach an amicable resolution, unfortunately most of the creditors have ignored her letters (worst was Argos refusing to talk to her at all and sending out default notices to the MIL address). So we haven't been able to pay them because of this so the money is sitting in wife's new bank account. Thought no more of it because we'd done the right thing and told the council immediately when we started a housing benefit claim in January. Today had a letter stopping our housing benefit primarily because they claim im now receiving contributions based ESA (i'm not confirmed by DWP THREE times!!) and also they want to count the MIL estate as OUR money and reduce our housing benefit and council tax benefit accordingly. Is this correct? I know it looks like the money is ours because of this new account with the money in but I can clearly demonstate it's not but we can't get rid of it due to ongoing negotiations. County council has accepted that we're on IB ESA as given the kids free school meals, DWP say we're on IB ESA but district council won't accept it. So I suppose questions are: 1. Is there really no way of handling the estate money without it affecting us? 2. How can I get the council to accept that we get IB ESA so I shouldn't have to fill out another 30 odd page form, plus produce ID, bank statements and travel 25 mile round trip to visit them? Thanks for reading this far, apologies if it's in the wrong place or if i've rambled on stress like this makes me really really ill on top of my usual "problems"

Hoping someone can give me some advice here but it seems to be quite a unique situation, with a solicitor even shrugging her shoulders and saying she'd rather not get involved due to lack of experience.. . Apologies in advance for the long post but it is quite complex! My aunt passed away recently leaving me, my brother, and my sister as administrators. She owned a house as "Joint Tenants" with her ex husband. Upon their divorce in 2011, a consent order was made whereby the house was to be sold and the net profits split 60/40 in her ex husbands favour, with the actual sale of the house to be conducted by him and his solicitors. For whatever reason, the house was never sold and, frustratingly, the title deeds were never amended to show a "Tenants in Common" situation. There is also a joint mortgage outstanding, with 6 years remaining before its cleared. Now, neither he nor his solicitor are disputing the sale of the house or the split of the net proceeds, but he's not being forthcoming with the outstanding balance and whether or not there is any kind of life assurance policy included in the mortgage. I've approached the mortgage company but, as anticipated, they won't discuss the account with me as there is a surviving account holder. I need this info in order to apply for a grant of probate. I'll deal with that issue somehow in time, but my real concern is just how powerful this consent order is. If I officially notify the mortgage company of my aunts passing I'm assuming they'll remove her name from the mortgage and possibly start the process of getting the title deeds amended to show a "Sole Tenancy". Will either of these actions negatively impact the estates claim on the property or over-rule the consent order? Or does the presence of an unfulfilled consent order usurp all else? I don't want to go ahead and notify the bank if it eventually knackers our claim to the property - I can't imagine her creditors being all too pleased if it's the executors fault there's no money for them! The solicitor was less than helpful now I really am stuck and would appreciate some advice if anyone is legally minded or experienced in such matters! It would be ideal if we could change the deeds to reflect the "Tenants in Common" ownership status but, from what I've read, that's simply not possible now one of the joint tenants has died. Can anyone confirm that? If anyone can make sense of this, well done and I'd appreciate any helpful responses.

Hi, I have been a joint executor of my late Grandmothers estate for the past three years. The problem I now have is that the flat, which is a 70% shared ownership (over 55's apartments) has been on the market for the last three years. Its had a few views and a few offers. The last offer was rejected by the management company, Equity Housing (www.equityhousing.co.uk), who say they means test the candidates before they are allowed to let them live at the property. They where rejected because they had too much money ?!? OK, fair enough I suppose. Whats happened now, is that there is no more money left to pay the monthly service charge to Equity, Council tax or other monthly outgoings. The solicitor has now decided they will stop representing us/the flat because there is no more money to pay for anything. My questions if any one can help is; Can I hand back the flat to the Bank ? Should I demand that Equity be more involved ? Am I as executor liable for these bills and if they don't get paid will that go against me ?? I'm all ready with a Debt managment company and only just getting straight. Thanks for any advice.

Hi Son has inheritance coming in 22 months when he's 25. Will says can ask for advance for education, benefit. Asked executor, they asked for proof so provided them with invoices for rent and deposit, items for accommodation and fees from Uni, also asked for rest of money to be placed in 2 year fixed account for when he's 25. A month later they reply and say as he has already paid then answer is no. Can they refuse especially when clause was put in will for allowance of advancement of inheritance? Any help greatly appreciated.

Hi, I wonder if someone can help me. My Mum has very recently passed away suddenly, and I've just come across a copy of her Will, which names her bank as her executor. She wasn't wealthy, with somewhere in the region of £20k in savings. Having just read through the information she had kept on the Will, it appears that the bank are going to make quite exhorbitant charges to act as Executor; minimum charges, plus fees for every bill they sort out, and more fees to transfer the residue of monies to beneficiaries, etc. I am 100% certain that mum would not have understood quite how much of her meagre amount was going to be taken in charges. By my calculations, once her bills are paid, and the funeral costs are taken care off, there MAY be just enough to pay the minimum charges of the Bank! My question is, can the appointment of Executor be challenged? And if so, how? Thanking you in advance for your help.

Any scottish legal advice on this matter would be appreciated. The executor dative to my late mother's estate is not carrying out their duties. They went to court following her death to be appointed executor dative and never told anyone. When all payments were made and the remaining money was to be shared to the next of kin they then informed the bank they were executor dative. I ensured all payments were made following my mother's death. I organised everything through the bank. I have written to the executor dative asking what they are doing and they have never replied. They will not discuss the matter. The bank have informed me that the money is still in my mother's account. The account is frozen. A year on and we are no further!

Good afternoon, We are hoping someone may be able to give us some advice on an extremely stressful situation. Up to the end of January 2014 my partner and I have been receiving assistance from housing benefit as our employment/business situation has been far from standard over the past few years. We have endeavoured to notify the council of anything which would affect our claim and have been working extremely hard to get ourselves out of the position where we need this assistance. We were invited to an interview under caution in February 2014 as there had been a discrepancy in our capital. This came as a surprise initially but after attending the interview it was clear why it had occurred. In January 2013 we lost a close relative and I was executor to the Will. This meant that over the following few months, some large sums of money passed through my account as they were being dispersed from the banks to the beneficiaries as well as paying the estate expenses. In hindsight it would have made sense for us to have notified the council that the funds were passing through our accounts but because only a small amount would end up being legally ours, we knew it wouldn't take us over the threshold and therefore didn't want to complicate matters any further (there had already been several complications relating to my employment which led to suspension and re-instatement several times plus countless hours of letter writing to explain everything over and over again). Anyway, during the interview under caution I had prepared a full breakdown of the amounts passing through our accounts (down to the penny) and could show that after everything was paid and transferred to the beneficiaries, we were left with less than £16,000 and the amount which was left was used to pay off a debt relating to my employment. Following the interview, several more pieces of information were requested by the council and everything was provided in a timely manner. Last month we received a series of decision notices dated 4th April (standard computer generated notices) saying that we had been overpaid by just over £3,500 in housing benefit and £500 in council tax benefit. Their calculation made no sense as the figures didn't relate to any that had been provided throughout the investigation but they seemed to have taken the first lump sum paid in and then suspended our entitlement from that day forward. We spent a considerable amount of time looking over the overpayment periods and then wrote back to them (within the 1 month window on the 24th April) to say that we intended to appeal the decision as none of the information had been taken into account and their figures did not make sense. We also requested a breakdown of their calculations and a statement of reasons. We didn't receive a reply until 8th May which is just outside the 1 month appeal window stating that they would like us to attend an interview to agree to pay an administrative penalty of 50% of the overpayments which totals over £2000 on top of the overpayment. They appear to have ignored the letter requesting a breakdown of their calculations and our appeal intentions. I have written to them again requesting the breakdown and advising that if it isn't provided then we will have no choice but to make a formal complaint and involve the local government ombudsman. We are concerned that they have only given us around 2 weeks before we need to sign and agree to the administrative penalty or court proceedings will begin. Has anyone experienced a situation where the money in their account isn't legally theirs and therefore cannot be of benefit to them? The council had a copy of the Will during the interview and it was referred to several times so they were aware that the money wasn't ours. Any advice would be appreciated as the situation has caused us a huge amount of stress over the past few months. Kind regards R & G

My brother and I are executors of my fathers will, which leaves everything to us. How do we go about closing down bank, post office accounts etc, and transferring the money into the estate without going through a solicitor. Any help would be appreciated.

Please be wary if you ever have to open an executors account. Following the very distressing loss of my mother last year, my brother and I opened an executors account with HSBC, the bank she had used for many years. Having finalised the estate administration I thought I should ensure that all the interest had been paid in to the account. When I examined the statements more closely I saw that what we had was a 0% interest account. Perhaps this is something I should have noticed before, but it never occurred to me that it would be necessary to check. I went in to the branch today to query this and was told that they don't pay interest on any of their current accounts. When I asked why they had decided that was the most suitable account I was told that was generally what executors wanted and that they normally ask if executors would prefer a savings account. Neither my brother or can recall being asked this, if we had been, we would have taken that option. I had assumed that the bank would have a duty of care to provide the best service they could - I was wrong. I have no idea how much interest has been lost over the past 10 months, but with something around £130k being paid in, I am sure it is considerable. I am left feeling angry, cheated and somewhat stupid. Don't get caught out - check and double check that you are getting the best deal

My brother and I are joint executors of my mothers estate. She willed her property to us and we have received probate for the estate. My brother wishes to purchase the property (which has no outstanding mortgage) and we have agreed the sum for purchase. The property deeds are in the possession of my brother. Can he buy the property without having to transfer it into our joint names before transferring it into his name. I am prepared to sign to acknowledge the situation. Do we need to involve a solicitor to effect the conveyancing. Regards Morgansbobi

I recently discovered I am named as Executor, along with two cousins, in the Will of our, now deceased, Uncle Donald (we are all his nephews, though not siblings - Uncle Don and his wife died childless). There was quite a substantial six-figure estate, including property and money and I am a beneficiary. My two cousins have dealt with the estate as directed in the Will, as far as I can see, though without involving or consulting me for some reason and I have been allowed no dealings with it, although I have had my allotted share. In fact I did not realise I was supposed to be an Executor until recently. I discover though, that no Probate was sought by, or granted to, either of my cousins and the estate seems to have been distributed - all done and dusted - without it. I am very concerned about the legality of all this. From all the reading I've done, it seems Probate is necessary when the estate is over a certain amount - I think £5000, though I've read different sums so I'm still unsure. I'm not close to either of my cousins, having had hardly any contact since childhood, so I don't know how trustworthy they are - sorry, but you hear such tales. I'm worried in case it turns out this has not been carried out to the book, that my inheritance is not legal and I may be liable for something in some way and even have to hand it all back! Uncle Don left me some property which I want to sell but, although it's all now in my name and everything, Land Registry etc, I'm very nervous about this lack of Probate business. Can some kind person please put me out of my misery and explain Probate to me, in words of one syllable if poss. Is it actually a legal requirement? How could it have been done without? Thanks.

My brother and I were appointed as joint executors of my mothers will. My brother is (mainly due to geographical and time constraints) carrying out most of the administration and recently requested that I write a letter making him sole executor “To save time getting documents signed by both of us”. My question is, do both executors have to sign all documents, or can we designate that one can sign with the other remaining to simply monitor the progress and view documents if requested by other members of the family (Four brothers in total) I trust my brother, but having seen some of the horror stories in the forum feel it would be a good idea to retain some control. Is there a standard form or letter to cover this situation? Thanks in advance